Police briefs: tussle among church members; man chased for not paying for lap dances

News-Sentinel staff report

Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - 12:01 am

Police break up tussling at church

Fort Wayne Police were called to break up a fight Sunday at Friendship Baptist Church, 451 E. Douglas St.

According to a police report, an officer responded at 11:55 a.m. to a call of a lot of people arguing and causing a scene in front of the church. The officer discovered an alleged scandal was going on with someone at the church. Apparently a man was offended when another member grabbed him by the lapels of his sports coat and said “I've been wanting a piece of you for a while,” the police report said.

The crowd was dispersed by police but they were later called to the Allen County Public Library, where the group had gathered to hash out their differences in the congregation. According to the report the responding officer thought the parties involved were being loud and it was in the best interests of the people and the library to ask them all to leave for the day.

Man chased down after refusing to pay for lap dances

Fort Wayne Police were called to an altercation at Shangri La, 2440 W. Jefferson Blvd., Sunday morning after a patron allegedly refused to pay for his lap dances.

According to a police report, an officer responded at 3:08 a.m. on a report of an armed robbery. The officer discovered that a man had been inside the club and had received several lap dances from a dancer, then he got up and ran outside the club without paying. An employee ran after the man, a brief struggle followed and the man gave up and paid for the dances. The man then ran off and the officer could not locate him.

Man arrested on charges of drug dealing

James H. Sanders. Jr., 38, of the 5000 block of Bowser Avenue, has been charged in Allen Superior Court with possession of a firearm by a serious felon, a Class B felony; dealing in a synthetic drug or synthetic look-a-like substance; possession of marijuana, hash oil, hashish, saliva or a synthetic drug, a Class A misdemeanor; and maintaining a common nuisance, a Class D felony.

According to court documents, on Dec. 19 police served Sanders with a search warrant at his residence. In the weeks leading up to the warrant, numerous individuals had been stopped while leaving the residence and found to be in possession of controlled substances, police alleged.

During the search of the residence, detectives located 21.5 grams of a green leafy substance that tested positive for THC, a chemical in marijuana; 801.7 grams of a greenish plant that tested positive for a synthetic drug; two digital scales; narcotics-packaging material; a loaded .22-caliber handgun; and a stolen Taurus Millennium .40-caliber handgun, according to court documents.

Sanders was interviewed by the Fort Wayne Police and is alleged to have told them he was selling synthetic drugs from the house, and that the handgun found in the house was his, but he had bought it for his wife. He has a conviction for arson, a Class B felony, from 2002, which classified him as a serious felon.